UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN Friday. May 3. 1996 3B Track coach's training methods launch record pole vaulters Matt Flickner / KANSAN By Adam Herschman Kansas assistant track and field coach Rick Attig is regarded as one often copied by other coaches. Two of his pupils are Olympic hope for the best pole vault coaches in the nation. Attig's training drills are fuls Pat Manson and Scott Huffman, both former Javahaws. Kansan sportswriter When Louisburg High School track coach Aaron Bower sent Mike Meek to Raytown South High School pole vault camp in 1982, Meek was vaulting 11 feet. Meek went on to place fourth in the 1984 Class 4A state pole vaulting championship. After the one-week camp, Meek was vaulting 14 feet, thanks in part to Raytown South track coach Rick Attrig. "If you asked most high school coaches and college coaches about who they think is the best pole vault coach in the United States, most of them would say Rick Attig without a blink of an eye." Webb said. Attig, who has been an assistant track and field coach at Kansas for the past 11 years, is regarded as one of the top pole vault coaches in the nation. Attig's success and contribution to the event has warranted other coaches to model his approach and techniques for coaching the pole vault. Attig was born in Murphysboro, Ill. and competed in the pole vault in high school. He attended college at Southeast Missouri State, where he was a four-year letterman and two-time captain in both football and track. - He earned a bachelor's degree in biology and a master's in biomechanics. 14 What Attig learned from a biomechanics professor in college influenced the way he coaches the sport. Biomechanics is the study of the mechanics of a body, especially of the forces exerted by muscles and gravity on the skeletal structure. "He taught me to learn about an event, or a sport, or any kind of physical skill by understanding biomechanical principles," Attig said. "It really became a much different approach than what I think a lot of other coaches did. I've tried to figure out what the objectives of each phase of the vault was, and what principles you would use to achieve those objectives." At the high school level, Attig coached four students who pole vaulted over 16 feet, and had the best high school trio ever at Raytown South. The trio was Cam Miller, Cedric Fuller and Dave Pickett. He coached at Raytown South from 1978 to 1984 before coming to Kansas. In 1988, Attig was named the first national chairman of the National Pole Vault Development Program and had a lot to do with the sport's turnaround, which had been in serious trouble before. "All the other track and field development committees have been modeled after this one, it was so well done." Slippery Rock assistant track and field coach Mark Hannay said. "It was all Rick's idea." Some of the things coaches often model after Attig are the drills he created that simulate different segments of the vault. "He's probably developed drills better then anyone I've ever seen." Hayne said. Webb said Attig's methods were copied because of the results his vaulters produced. schools practicing the stubby flexin'-close-off drill. Hannay said he saw vaulters from different Attig has coached seven vaulters at Kansas who have cleared 18 feet or higher, more than any other university in the country. In 1989, he coached one of the best vaulting groups in the nation in Miller, Fuller, and Pat Manson. The three vaulters had an average personal record of 18-5. Jason Church, a volunteer assistant on the Kansas track and field team, said when he met Attig it was like a young basketball coach meeting Roy Williams or Pat Rilev. "When I started getting into pole vaulting in high school, we started getting outside materials and videos. A lot of it was from him," Church said. "We followed who were the good athletes, the good pole vaulters in the U.S., and a lot of them came from the University of Kansas." Despite his success, Attig has never coached an Olympic vaulter. This summer, however, Attig may fly to Atlanta if former Jayhawks Scott Huffman and Manson qualify for the Olympics. Both vaulters are considered two of the top pole vaulters in the world. Huffman set the national freshman record with a vault of 18-5 1/2. Today, Huffman is the American record holder in the event with a vault of 19-7. "He has a general understanding of all phases of what it takes to coach a pole vault," Huffman said. "And that includes not only the physical training, but also the technical training and the mental aspect of vaulting." Manson was recruited by Stanford and Harvard but decided to attend Kansas because of the vault program "Rick Attig is a tremendous pole vault coach," Manson said. "And even more than he's a tremendous person. He's a man of integrity and character, and you sense that when you talk to him and deal with him. I had an unique opportunity to travel the country and see a lot of schools and they brought out the best they could show, and KU came on top." Attig still coaches Manson and Huffman. "Scott and I have been so comfortable with him for so long, because we know we're not stuck with what they were doing back in '85," Manson said. We're doing what exactly the top vaulters in the world are doing now. If we're both on the Olympic team, we'll find a way to get him there. "If he's got two-thirds of the U.S. vault team, he should be there." Strawberry may sign with Saints Baseball player unwanted by Major League teams The Associated Press yesterday. The Saints have called a news conference for 1 p.m. today. Although team representative Dave Wright would not reveal the subject, he pointed out that it will be only the fourth news conference in the team's four-year history. ST. PAUL — Darryl Strawberry, unwanted by the major leagues, is expected to sign with the St. Paul Saints today, joining Jack Morris on the popular independent league team. "We don't do it very often," Wright said When Morris signe with the Saints two weeks ago, team president Mike Veeck said there was a 30 percent chance Strawberry also would sign. Veeck was not available for comment yesterday. Once among the best power hitters in the majors when he played for the New York Mets, Strawberry has been unable to catch on with a major league organization since the Yankees paid $175,000 to buy out his contract at the end of last season. Strawberry, 34, is trying to resuscitate a career that has been derailed by alcohol and cocaine abuse. An eight-time All-Star, he spent a month in a Los Angeles rehabilitation center in 1994, and he also served time in home confinement last year for tax evasion for unreported earnings from baseball card shows. He agreed last month to pay nearly $300,000 in overdue child and spousal support by June 24 to avoid criminal prosecution. Strawberry also is to pay $10,000 a month after June 24 to make up an additional $194,912 he owes to his former wife and their children, Darryl Jr., 10, and Diamond Nicole, 7. Man overboard after oar breaks Rower's jump from boat doesn't sink Kansas crew Bv Evan Blackwell Kansan sportswriter Nat Watts had no time to think. He just had to jump. Watts was racing in the Kansas crew mixed novice eight final at the Midwest Rowing Championships last weekend on Lake Wingra in Madison, Wis., when an unusual problem struck his boat. And it couldn't have happened at a worse time. "We were in second place at the time," Watts said. "My collar came disassembled from my oar, and I basically couldn't row." The collar is the device that holds the oar to the boat. Watts, a novice rower, had never experienced anything like losing an oar in the middle of a race. "It was all such chaos," Watts said. "I started yelling, 'I broke my ear!'" That's when Watts heard the coxswain, the director of the crew, tell him to jump. Watts had become 180 pounds of dead weight, and the boat had dropped all the way to last place. "I jumped, or kind of dove, out of the boat," Watts said. "I went down for a few seconds, and then nopped out." By staying underwater for those few seconds, Watts, who had been in the first seat at the front of the boat, avoided the strokes of the other rowers. But he still had to contend with the water. "That water was cold." Watts said. "It's still winter in Wisconsin." See CREW.Page 4. NATURAL WAY • NATURAL FIBER CLOTHING • NATURAL BODY CARE • 820-822 MASS. • 841-0100 The Etc. Shop 928 Mass.Downtown COME PARTY ON THE PATIO Friday, May 3 WE'RE ON THE PATIO! With LAER The LAZER will have a live remote from 10-Midnight Giving away a Sony Discman & other prizes Register for the GRAND PRIZE GIVEAWAY! Live Music on the Patio featuring Burger, Fries and Beer ALL for $2.50 Friday, May 3 5-10 your little bros and sisters at HOME! Wire Tripper TAVERN LAWRENCE / KANSAS CITY 401N2ND 842-0377 Also drop by Johnny's in K.C. H9th and Metcalf, and Shawnee at Shawnee Mission Pkwy & Pflumn your Fall'96 textbooks Save time and money! PRE-ORDER time hunting for books. Pre-order customers also get first 'shot' at used books in stock, which saves you money, up to 50% off new prices. Plus you'll save an additional 5% on your entire purchase if you pick up your pre-order before the first day of classes. Also receive a FREE JBS multi-card good for discounts, easy check writing and low long distance phone rates. Your Pre-Order may be received by August 5, 1996 Your Pre-Order must be received by August 5,1996 Pre-ordering your textbooks means they are packaged and waiting for you before classes start. That will save you. 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